The Ship
by IcySky
Summary: Avatar/Pokemon crossover. The Pokemon have been involved in the war for 80 years. They've learned the human language, organized armies, and prepared themselves for the worst. But what happens when grade school children decided to get involved?
1. Prologue

No, I do not own Avatar. I do not claim any of these characters as my own.

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**Prologue**

Soaring high above a dry scrubland was a sky bison. Its fur was white with a tan colored arrow running from its forehead to its tail, and its large, flat tail pounded at the air behind it like a beaver's. Six muscular legs dangled underneath it, and resting on its back was a handcrafted saddle, big enough to easily seat five or six. Sitting in the saddle were three people of various origins and a flying lemur.

A teenage girl in Water Tribe garb was leaning over the edge of the saddle, a worried expression creasing her young face.

"Do you think they saw us?" Katara asked Aang, looking back at the Fire Nation camp they had just passed. It wasn't exactly hard to miss a giant flying bison. If they'd been spotted, there would be complications.

Aang fidgeted nervously, glancing down at the tents and campfires below them.

"I don't know," Aang replied. "I hope not. That's the last thing we need."

Appa, the sky bison, groaned under him in agreement, and Momo hopped up front with Aang and began chattering something. The chattering lasted a good minute. _Eeeeeka!_ Momo finished with a loud screech in Aang's ear. The lemur bounced up and down next to Aang, gesturing to something in the distance.

A dark, teenage boy, also in Water Tribe clothing looked to the east, his eyes scanning the landscape.

"Look!" Sokka said, pointing to where Momo had been gesturing. A canyon cut through the ragged ground, looking as if some sort of terrible monster had come along and dragged a giant claw through the rusty earth. "It's a canyon. Whether they saw us or not, we can hide there for a few days. I bet there's even some caves to hide in. And besides, there's no way they'll be able to get down the sides of it anyway."

"Good idea," Aang agreed. He directed Appa in the direction of the canyon, and as they turned, he noticed a series of buildings below them. There was a large main building, three small buildings off to the side, a watchtower, and a jumble of wood, metal, and stones. They didn't resemble anything Fire Nation related at all, in fact; they didn't resemble much of anything. As far as he could see, they were the only buildings in the area. Maybe it was some sort of military outpost, but it looked more like a school campus. Of course, there wasn't any time for sightseeing, so, shoving the thought out of his mind, Aang looked for a good place to land.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or Pokemon.

Okay, so the main character is a fake Pokemon. If you need a picture, go to my homepage (link found on profile), and you should find one there.

There'll be real Pokemon in it, don't worry. There actually won't be that many fakes. Only one or two, maybe more later on.

--

**Chapter 1**

The stars were just beginning to fade as Shagar crossed the river. The horizon blazed scarlet with the light of the rising sun, and a faint breeze caused the sparse desert grasses to sway as if they were dancing.

Shagar belonged to a species of Pokemon called the Frozero, a four legged ice type Pokemon. Her fur was the color of autumn leaves: bright gold. Black markings resembling a pair of crescents, with short line segments jutting horizontally out of either end, ran down her back and tail, with more running around her elbows and knees. There was one additional marking on each of her floppy ears, as well as one on her forehead. Half of a marking was etched into her fur pattern just below her left eye, with its opposite residing above her right. Two connected halves of a marking formed a hard, boney structure on each side of her tail's end. Attached on her arms' undersides were her wings, thin, lightly golden and bat-like, with the ability to fold up out of sight. And finally, staring out at the world which she'd grown to love, were her deep blue eyes, sparkling with curiosity and humor.

She'd been traveling all night. It was no good traveling in the day, mainly with the heat of the unforgiving sun. On top of that, being an ice type didn't help much either. Her paws ached, and she was exhausted from walking.

At least it was the weekend. The leaders of her boarding school had been nice enough to allow the students to do whatever they wanted on the weekend. With rules as strict as they were, and with a war going on, any break was a welcome one.

As she came to the top of a rocky hill, Shagar noticed a glow on the horizon. It was different from the glow of the sun. It danced against the shadows cast by the rocks, and was orangey-redish in color. Curious, she decided to investigate.

Reaching the light didn't take long. Peering around the rocks, Shagar was careful not to be seen. She was in an area in which was very rocky. There were plenty of places to hide, but there was open ground between possible hiding spots, and since a sheer cliff face filled most of her view, there was only one direction to run in if she encountered an unfriendly character.

Sheltered by the cliff, was a camp. And by the looks of it, it was a Fire Nation camp. A big one at that. Covering a large area, the camp was filled with tents, campfires, and soldiers. They just seemed to be starting their day. Shagar crouched low the ground and began to creep around the rocks for a better view. She'd never seen anything like this before. Sure, she'd seen people from the Fire Nation, and she'd seen camps, but this was different. This was on their land. Pokemon land. She couldn't help wondering what they were doing here.

She crept silently past one of the more impressive looking tents, light on her paws. A guard had been posted outside the tent, but he looked as if he was mixed up in his own thoughts, half asleep. _Sucker._ Shagar thought to herself. _Who posts a guard who can't keep himself awake for a couple of hours? _She wondered for a moment what could possibly be in that tent and if she should try to look inside. Whatever it was had to be important if it needed its own guard. She quickly pushed the thought away. It wasn't worth the risk.

Suddenly, the sleepy guard looked up. Shagar froze, not sure if she'd been seen or not. _Surely not_. She'd been careful to stay behind the brush, and she was almost certain she hadn't made a sound. Her mind spun. What was her excuse if she got caught?

For what seemed like forever, she stayed perfectly still and perfectly silent. Her heart was racing a thousand miles a minute, and it pounded so loud in her ears that she feared the guard could hear it too. She breathed so shallowly that she was barely breathing at all, and all her energy was going into resisting the urge to turn tail and run. Her eyes were fixed on the guard.

To her relief, the guard sighed and looked away. He shut his eyes for a minute as if he could barely stay awake. Taking the opportunity to her advantage, Shagar made a mad dash to the rocks across the 

clearing without looking to see if she'd been spotted. Catching her breath, she poked her head around a rust colored boulder.

A few soldiers were scattered around the campsite, doing various chores. None of them seemed to take notice of her. Good.

She had an irresistible urge to stay, to snoop around and discover what business the Fire Nation had there. Unfortunately, she knew she couldn't. Not only would the risks be too great, but she had a school to get back to. There wasn't a guarantee she'd find anything anyway. Even then, the urge was enthralling, and she made a silent promise to herself to return to the campsite as soon as she could.

Excited, Shagar took one last look at the camp, and turned back towards the direction of the school. This was something she had to show her friends. But not right now. Not this weekend. It'd taken her a full day to get here, and there was no way she'd get a bunch of people here and back by Monday. _Next week for sure. _She promised herself.

Just as the sun poked over the horizon, she started her journey home.


	3. Chapter 2

I do not own Pokemon or Avatar.

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**Chapter 2**

The next week crept by slowly. Shagar endured each day as it went by, barely paying attention in any of her classes. Her mind was still on that camp. It was a break from her regular, boring school life; an opportunity to explore something completely unknown to her, and make the best of it. She was unsure if the camp would still be there by the next weekend, but even if it wasn't, it was excuse to leave the school grounds and explore the surrounding territory. This time, she decided, she would bring her friends. Just like her, they always complained about their lives being boring and unexciting, repeating the same schedule everyday and living like brain-dead zombies.

But finally, Friday afternoon came, almost like a holiday. Shagar sat on the floor of Mrs. Meyer's classroom, surrounded by the other sighing students. The sun was beginning to descend from the sky, signaling that school was soon to be dismissed.

At least the last half hour of the day was free time. After that, school was dismissed and the students were free from the school rules. They could do anything they wanted until nightfall: go into town, participate in extracurricular activities, hang out, or anything else they could think of.

Mrs. Meyer sat at her desk, quickly writing something. _Probably a message to one of the teachers._ Shagar thought. The Butterfree's antennae twitched as she looked over what she'd written. Then, with a satisfied look, she rolled up the paper, tied a ribbon around it, and set it aside. Her antennae twitched again, and she fluttered over to the window. Mrs. Meyer studied whatever was going on outside and went back to her desk. Shagar also took the time to glance out the window. The younger grade levels had already been dismissed, and were frolicking happily in the field. She gave an innocent sounding sigh, hoping Mrs. Meyer would hear it and dismiss them. She didn't even notice. _Oh, never mind!_ Shagar thought.

Almost as if on command, Mrs. Meyer fluttered up and signaled to the class.

"You're dismissed!" She said, and gave a sigh herself. Even the teachers got sick of being here every day.

Shagar stood up and made her way to the door. The students in her class rushed out like a wave on the water and ran to greet their friends in the field. Shagar did the same.

Freezachu was sitting under the trees across the grassy field with her eyes shut, lying in a relaxed position. She was a Pikachu-like Pokemon with light blue fur. Icicles hung from her ears and tail, and she had three dark blue stripes on her back, of which the third one was a tad longer. As far as she knew, she was the only one of her species.

Shagar figured Freezachu's class must've gotten out early. Mrs. Galvan often let her class out early, as did Mrs. Talbert. The rest of them sometimes waited ten minutes after the other classes got out to be released themselves.

Shagar pushed the thought out of her mind and sat down beside her friend.

"Hey," she said as a standard greeting.

"Hi," Freezachu said in reply. She took a deep breath. "I'm so glad it's Friday."

"Definitely," Shagar agreed. "Oh, I wanted to ask you something. Would you be willing to go on a little trip with me?"

Freezachu's ears pricked. "How long of a trip?"

"A couple of days. We should be back by Monday."

"Where would we be going exactly?" Freezachu had to get every bit of information.

Shagar couldn't help but smile. "I found a camp." She said. "A Fire Nation camp. It's about five miles from here. We could get there by tomorrow and have a whole day to explore it before coming home."

"A Fire Nation camp, huh?" Freezachu's expression was a mix of concern and curiosity. Shagar could tell she wanted to go, but her instincts were telling her not to. Both of them had experienced the Fire Nation in the past. The two of them had been separated from their parents in Fire Nation raids. She could understand if Freezachu decided she didn't want to come.

Freezachu's expression suddenly turned very thoughtful as she mulled it over. For a long while, Shagar sat in silence, waiting for an answer.

"I'll come," she said at last. "Is anyone else coming?"

"I was going to ask Aliela and Kinko," Shagar answered. She knew Aliela would come, but she wasn't entirely sure about Kinko. She'd changed so much since Shagar had met her. She never seemed to want to go out for adventure anymore, but rather just sit on the sidelines and watch. It irked her to no end.

"I'll go find Aliela, you find Kinko," Freezachu hopped up and raced toward the opposite side of the field.

Kinko was a spring green, canine like Pokemon with long, thin ears and a vine-like tail that split at the end. Tiny icicles hung from them, and running down her back were three purple hourglass markings. Her eyes were a deep green.

She sat alone near the main building. When Shagar reached her, she explained her plan to go to the Fire Nation camp. It took a lot of persuading, but Kinko eventually agreed.

The two of them met Freezachu and Aliela near the bottom of the cliffs on the far side of the field.

"What time are we leaving?" Aliela asked. The Zangoose had a great sense of adventure and Shagar admired her for it. She knew Aliela would want to leave right away, but they needed to do at least a little bit of preparation first.

"We need to pack some supplies before we leave." Shagar replied. "Not very much. Just enough to get us through a day or so. We could each pack enough for ourselves and meet back here in twenty minutes. How does that sound?"

"What do we need to bring?" Kinko asked.

"Food and stuff." Freezachu answered bluntly. "I dunno, bring an apple or something. Just don't over pack."

"Back here in twenty minutes then?" Aliela checked, glancing at her peers.

"Yep." Shagar gave a slight nod.

"Okay then. See y'all in twenty minutes." Kinko gave a wave of her tail and started back toward the school. Shagar followed, heading back into the portables. Despite Curtsinger's rule against hoarding, most kids kept their own secret stashes of snack food anyway. Since it was nearly impossible to sneak food out of the cafeteria, most kids went into town on the weekend and bought more snacks than a Machamp could carry. A lot of them even had part time jobs at snack stands or stores, which is where most of them got their money anyway.

Shagar's stash was hidden behind the shelf everyone's blankets were stored on. No one was in the portable at the moment. Everyone was off somewhere, doing their own thing. Shagar reached behind the shelf and felt around for something she could take. Pulling out an apple, a few nuts, and a left over cookie she got in town yesterday, she stuffed it all in a brown leather bag and flung it over her shoulder.  
Taking into careful consideration that she may have been seen, she made a quick scan over the room before racing out the door toward the meeting place.


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or Pokemon.

**Chapter 3**

It had been a day since Shagar had left Curtsinger with her friends. They'd traveled through most of the night because it had been too hot to travel during the day. There was no road, and stumbling through the rocks in the dark was no easy task. The four of them had finally gotten tired and stopped for a rest. They'd slept under one of the few trees in the area, and were about to set off again.

Shagar, who'd been keeping watch since she'd woken up, was perched on a branch near the top of the scraggly old tree. It was a beautiful night. There was a welcoming desert breeze, and the temperature was almost perfect. The sky was filled with thousands, maybe even millions of stars; each one of them twinkling like a torch in the distance.

Gazing at the night sky, Shagar worked out which was north by finding the North Star, and from there, worked out which way was west. That way. She told herself. The camp was that way. Her night vision wasn't too great, but Shagar stared into the distance, trying to pick out any landmarks she might recognize against the pale starlight that illuminated the sky. She managed to make out the outcrop she remembered crossing before making it to the camp. Once they got passed it, all they had to do was look for a cliff with a Fire Nation camp nestled at the bottom.

"You almost ready to go?" A voice said behind her. Shagar nearly jumped out of the tree from surprise.

She turned to face whoever had come up behind her. "Don't sneak up on me like that!" She gasped. "Especially at night."

"Sorry," said the voice, who Shagar could just make out to be, Freezachu. "Are you gonna be ready to leave in a few minutes?"

"Is everyone else ready?" Shagar asked. "I'm ready whenever everyone else is."

"I think so," Freezachu replied. She glanced toward the bottom of the tree. "I think they're getting the last of their things together down there."

"Alright then," Shagar said, beginning to make her way down the tree. Going mostly by her sense of touch, she finally got to the bottom. That was, after being poked by the thorny branches about a thousand times.

Freezachu followed close behind her.

Kinko was sitting near the bottom of the tree, probably enjoying hearing the two of them say "ow" every five seconds.

Aliela was stuffing the last of her few belongings into her bag. No one at the school had very many personal items, and few supplies had been needed for this trip. Aliela slung the bag over her shoulder and glanced at everyone else, who seemed to be waiting on her.

"I'm ready," she said, trying to get everyone to stop looking at her.

"Let's go then," Kinko said. "We've been here way longer than we wanted to be. We'll never get there by sunrise at this rate…..if it's still there."

"Well, I can't control when people move," Shagar said in defense. She knew that there was a good chance the camp wasn't there anymore, but she wanted to see anyway. "But I have to admit, I'll be a bit disappointed if it isn't there."

"We're never going to get there if we don't start walking!" Kinko stressed, glaring at everyone.

"Fine," Freezachu said. "Everyone get moving."

By sunrise, the group was far past the outcrop and pretty far from the school. Shagar could see the top of the cliff on the horizon, but it would take a little while longer to get there.

"How much farther?" Aliela asked miserably. "My paws hurt."

"It's at the base of that cliff over there." Shagar said, motioning to it with her tail. "We can probably be there in an hour." She glanced at the others nervously. "If the path isn't too rocky."

"Could we pick up the pace then?" Freezachu questioned. "I'd like to get there as quick as possible."

"I don't think I can make my paws move any faster." Kinko complained. "We've been walking all night. I'm kind of tired."

The group grew quiet and continued walking in silence. A two long hours passed before they stopped again.

"Can't we stop now?" Kinko asked. "We've been walking since midnight."

"Look, it's not that much farther now," Shagar replied. "We might as well keep going. I bet we can make it there in fifteen minutes."

"Yeah, aren't you curious as to what's over there?" Freezachu looked tired, but her eyes still gleamed with excitement. "Come on! We can stop when we get there."

Aliela stayed silent, as if she wasn't on either side. She looked back and forth between the group and the base of the cliff, as if she'd be happy with either choice.

Kinko sighed. "Fine," she said. "But we have to stop when we get there. Please."

Once again, the group continued toward the cliff. Shagar was beginning to admit to herself that, like everyone else, she was tired. She was starting to feel the pain in her paws from walking so much. And now her leg was cramping. Great.

And now she was also beginning to wonder if the camp was ever there at all. She couldn't think of a reason why someone would stay in the same spot for an entire week. Normally when people set up a camp, it's just an overnight thing and they keep moving the next day. That was, of course, unless they were setting up some sort of settlement or something. Except, they couldn't do that. This was Pokemon land; they couldn't just invade it, could they? Of course, the Fire Nation was building all these colonies in the Earth Kingdom. That wasn't their land, but they were still living there. For a second, Shagar made up in her mind, that if that was the case, she'd be willing to chase them out. Then she remembered that the people living in the Earth Kingdom had tried to fight back too, but they couldn't do it. If a bunch of big, strong earthbenders couldn't defend their city, then how were a few smaller Pokemon going to do it? They'd need an army, but that was something they didn't have, unless you'd count a school with around eight hundred kids and about seventy teachers as an army.

By now, the sunrise was only moments away. The cliff face took up almost her entire view at this point, but she could still see the glow of the sun at its edges.

Finally, the group reached the base of the cliff. Shagar poked her head around the rocks and was thrilled to see that the camp was still there. They were still a good one hundred feet or so from the camp, so they could watch safely from a distance.

"It's still here!" Shagar whispered to her friends excitedly. She motioned for them to come and look with her tail. Everyone peeked around the rocks jutting up from the ground, scrambling among one another to get a better view.

Shagar crept out from behind the rocks, being careful to stay low. She glanced back to see if her friends were following her, but they looked a bit nervous. With a motion of her tail, she signaled for them to come with her. They were all a bit hesitant, but eventually Freezachu came, and the rest of them trailed behind her.

The four of them crept across the clearing, ducking behind rocks and brush until they had entered the campground. Tents were scattered around the cliff's base, and soldiers patrolled the grounds. But it wasn't like they actually needed to. Their biggest threat out here in the middle of nowhere was wild animals. At least, it was their biggest threat until the four little Pokemon came along.

Shagar led the group behind one of the nearby tents. She figured from here, no one could see them.

They'd be able to look around without getting caught.

"Look!" Aliela whispered. "That guy over there's dancing!"

Sure enough, near the middle of the campsite, there was a big, sleepy crowd gathered around some guy doing a goofy dance. Shagar and her friends couldn't help but giggle a little. They must've been really bored and maybe a little crazy for someone to go out there and do something like that.

Of course, Shagar danced for no reason all the time, even when she wasn't bored. But still, she thought people in the army might be a little more mature.

Suddenly, her friends stopped giggling. She turned to face them, noticing they were looking at something behind her.

She whipped around. Standing in front of her was a Fire Nation soldier with his spear pointed right at her.


	5. Chapter 4

I'm sorry guys, this one is short and generally poorly written. : I'll do a better job next time.

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**Chapter 4**

"Who are you?" The soldier questioned them, holding his spear a little closer to Shagar.

"Oh, we're just a bunch of school kids out for the weekend," Shagar said as innocently as she could, being careful not to let that awful guilty smile creep across her face. "Just passing through and such. The camp caught our attention, that's all. Nothing exciting ever happens out here in the middle of nowhere. It's just sort of different."

"Oh?" The soldier didn't sound, or look, convinced. Then again, they were probably trained to be suspicious of everything. "Where's your school?" He pushed.

"I'm not authorized to tell you that, sir," Shagar replied with a smile. She wasn't keen on giving out that little piece of information.

"We've been strongly encouraged not to talk to strangers," Freezachu chimed in behind her with just a hint of humor in her voice.

"Really," grumped Mr. Suspicious. He seemed to relax a little bit, but still seemed confused. Shagar had a feeling he was a new recruit.

"That's the truth, sir," Aliela insisted, stepping up to confront him. She looked calm, but Shagar knew that on the inside, she was probably laughing at this.

"Uh-huh," the soldier responded sarcastically, still looking rather unimpressed. By now Shagar was fed up with his attitude. _He's barely listening! _If anything, he was stalling until someone else came along to handle it. But she was careful not to show her distress. Instead, she tried to cut to the chase.

"So, are you gonna let us go or not, mister?" she nagged, looking annoyed. "We gotta be back at school by sunset."

She saw Kinko nod in agreement out of the corner of her eye. She had a feeling Kinko didn't want to be out here anymore anyway.

The soldier pondered it for a moment. Shagar glanced at Freezachu, who was busy scanning the camp, presumably for any escape route. At that same moment, Mr. Suspicious looked around a little bit as if to make sure no one was looking. It was rather ironic. Shagar got the idea he really wasn't supposed to let anyone go.

"Yeah, I'll let ya go," Mr. Suspicious agreed reluctantly. He pulled his spear away, as if he no longer had any use for it.

Shagar relaxed just a little bit.

"But I never wanna catch you guys back here again, you got that?" he added, pulling his spear out again and prodding Shagar with it. Her temper flared.

"Pfft, like I wanna come back!" she grunted. "What a horrible welcome wagon!"

Mr. Suspicious eyed her angrily like he was having second thoughts on letting them go. "Intruders don't deserve welcoming," he pointed out.

Anyone with some sense would have left it there, but Shagar wasn't one of those people. Oh no. Her thoughts were already returning to her previous daydream about Earth Kingdom soldiers and armies and border disputes. His final comment had nearly caused her to snap.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Shagar scoffed with a resentful glare. "I didn't know intruding on your own land was a crime, because last time I checked, this wasn't Fire Nation land!"

"Maybe not yet," Mr. Suspicious vowed, "but it will be soon!"

She gave him a look of disbelief and let a smile creep across her face. _It would if there weren't people living out here, _she thought. A variety of Pokemon and animals lived out here in the desert; they just didn't come out during the day. Most of them were antisocial too, which was why they lived out here instead of back in town. If some Fire Nation troops wanted to try and push their way onto this land, let them. They wouldn't be here long before those grumpy Pokemon were all over them.

"Well, you let me know how that goes for you," she taunted. "Good luck."


	6. Chapter 5

Sorry for the irregular updating patterns. ^_^;

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or Pokemon.

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**Chapter 5**

The sun was just rising when the group got back to Curtsinger. They'd traveled all night without a wink of sleep. When they reached the portables, they departed into their separate rooms.

Shagar and Kinko crept silently into Mrs. Meyer's room. A few kids were awake and getting ready for school, but the majority of them were still asleep. Shagar unpacked what was left of the supplies she'd taken on the trip and put them away.

It was about an hour and a half before she had to go to class, so she collapsed on the floor and dozed for an hour or so. When the sound of her classmates pouring into Mrs. Talbert's room roused her, she too got up and slinked next door.

Mrs. Meyer's and Mrs. Talbert's rooms where separated by a long violet curtain. Everyone always had fun running between the rooms because of that curtain, but Shagar was too tired to notice it glide over her.

Mrs. Talbert was Shagar's favorite teacher. Not only was she the nicest teacher she'd ever had, but she'd also helped her in her darkest hour.

When Shagar was younger, her parents had wanted to move south, hoping to avoid the war, at least for a while. It really hadn't been a good time to move. Her sister, Keira, was only a couple of months old, and was generally helpless. Nevertheless, her parents thought it was too dangerous in their current location, and decided to move south, where raids weren't as common.

They were about halfway there when Fire Nation troops ambushed their travel group. The adults held them off long enough for most of the children to make their escape, but the grand majority of the adults were captured, including Shagar's parents. From there on, she, the few adults that had escaped, and the rest of the kids made their way south, stopping every once in a while to ask if anyone knew a place where they could go. That's how they learned about Curtsinger. They'd been told it was a boarding school especially for those who'd lost their parents to war related causes, whose parents were fighting in the war, or whose parents just wanted them in a safe place. Someone had also been nice enough to give them directions, so they adjusted their course to take them there.

At last they made it. Shagar had been the first to rush through the doors, seeking immediate help. Keira had come down with some sort of illness, which worried her. The first person she saw inside was Mrs. Talbert. Shagar had run to her and asked for help, saying they'd been traveling and that her sister was sick. She said she'd give her the rest of story later.

Mrs. Talbert had found someone to take Keira to the nurse, and then she spoke with the rest of the group. Shagar—being the chatty six-year-old she was-- had quickly explained the entire story in full detail, not leaving out a single thing; not a person they'd met nor a town they'd passed. The Arcanine had told them they'd be able to stay at the school, but Keira would have to be taken somewhere else because she was underage.

And here she was, in the very classroom of the teacher who'd taken them under her wing. She was extremely grateful.

That day in Mrs. Talbert's class was fairly relaxing. She let the kids lie down on the floor while she read the beginning of a story to them. Shagar took the time to relax, figuring the rest of the day would be hectic.

Which it was.

Following Reading was Math class with Mrs. Meyer; the absolute _wo_rst part of the day. It was an entire hour and a half of nothing but numbers and equations that made Shagar's head spin. She barely paid attention; she didn't care if there was a test over it.

Next was Science. Above all, it was Shagar's favorite class, but Mrs. Galvan often made it stressful. The Umbreon was constantly throwing pop quizzes on them and giving them long assignments. Not to mention she was pretty strict too. All it took was one interruption and you'd be out the door. She often snapped at them, making them flinch, though they still got to do some interesting experiments. Once, they made ice cream, and another time they made little racers out of empty spools of thread.

But today, all they got was a long lecture from Mrs. Galvan about how plants worked. Not the most exciting thing.

The fourth class of the day was history, again with Mrs. Meyer, which Shagar also despised. She didn't pay attention at all. It was probably just more about dusty old Earth Kingdom war generals that fought some battles, won something big, and then died anyway.

Finally came lunch. Fifth grade ate the latest of anyone, which was pretty bad if you had skipped breakfast. That usually meant you'd have to wait until after school to get anything decent. Today was spaghetti. Not so bad, right? Wrong.

It was the worst possible thing they could have served. Earlier in the year, Garner, a kid in Mrs. Talbert's class had discovered that the spaghetti _bounced. _It turned out, if you threw the pasta at the floor so that it had just the right amount of spin, you could get it to bounce about three feet into the air.

Shagar checked to make sure no one was looking and gave it a try herself. The first time it just kind of splatted on the floor because she didn't throw it right. She tried again, giving it more spin. This time it did bounce--about a foot in the air.

Immediately after lunch they had Specials, which could be anything ranging from art to PE. Today it was PE. They had to do targeting drills, which meant nothing more than firing shots at metal targets about fifty feet away. Despite how often the kids were forced to do this, it was surprising how many people hardly ever hit the target. The coaches sometimes had to hide behind the targets because it was the only safe place!

After Specials was a sort of free time. For forty-five minutes they could do whatever they wanted. Most chose to get a jump start on homework, but all the procrastinators usually played games or bothered each other.

Finally was recess. The only requirements were that the kids had to stay on school grounds until dismissal. They normally only got about ten minutes of recess, after that they could go into town or any surrounding areas.

But, at sundown they had to be back at school, otherwise the teachers panicked and started organizing search parties. It was always embarrassing when one was being organized for you and you got back five minutes before they planned on leaving.

The day had been long and hard for Shagar, but at least it was over now. Everyone pulled out their sleeping mats and arranged them in their staked out spots on the floor. Shagar set up hers in her usual spot under the desks, which had been pushed against the wall. The sounds of night life outside the building sang a sort of lullaby, and before long she was asleep.

Meanwhile back at the Fire Nation camp, a meeting had been called. Soldiers gathered near the center of the camp.

"Come on, Raesty!" Someone called from the crowd. "Prince Zuko's gonna chew you out if you're not over here quick!"

The young soldier came running out of his tent with a spear.

"I'm coming, Yu!" he called hastily as the crossed the short expanse of land to reach the crowd. "Did I miss something?" Raesty panted. Being a new recruit, he felt he had to do everything he could to impress those in charge. Being late wasn't one of them.

"Nah," Yu replied, jabbing Raesty with his elbow. "Zuko's not even out here yet."

"What happens if you're late to a meeting?" Raesty asked out of curiosity. "

"Well, first they burn your hair off," Yu began, smiling in satisfaction as he watched his friend reach up to fiddle with his sandy blonde hair. "Oh, yeah, and then they tie you to a post and force you to live with the livestock."

"Really?" Raesty said skeptically. He'd lost him after the hair thing.

Yu just shrugged. "I dunno what they actually do. I wouldn't wanna be the first to find out though."

"I will," the young soldier replied.

"Oh! Looks like the meeting's starting," Yu said, bringing Raesty's attention to the front of the crowd.

Zuko was standing in front of the crowd now. He wore the same irritated expression he always wore.

"Well," Zuko began, "I don't want this to take very long, so I'll just get right to the point." He paused, glancing at his uncle, who was off to the side loudly slurping his tea.

When he noticed Zuko's eyes on him, he looked up.

"Oh, don't mind me, my nephew," Iroh said with a smile. "Tell them what you wanted to tell them!"

Zuko just gave an angry huff, and several soldiers in the crowd had to suppress their laughter.

"As I was saying before I was so _rudely interrupted_," Zuko continued, glancing at his uncle, "we haven't heard any news on the Avatar since we say him fly over a week ago, so we're going to keep moving inland."

The entire crowd erupted in moans and groans. Obviously, no one wanted to move.

Suddenly, Raesty spoke up.

"Uh, sir?"

"Yes?" Zuko replied.

"Well, you see, there were a couple of kids who wandered into camp a few days ago…"

"Uh-huh…"

"So…were there are people, there are civilizations, right?"

"So you think," Zuko broke in, "there's a town nearby?"

"Yeah," Raesty nodded.

"A town…where the Avatar could be hiding!" Zuko said with realization. "You're a genius."

"Uh, sure," Raesty said uncertainly. "Why not?"

"Which way did they head?" Zuko asked.

"That way," Raesty said, pointing in the direction they'd gone. "East."

Zuko took a moment to think this over. Raesty looked a little uncomfortable. He didn't know if Zuko would be mad that he hadn't told him about the kids at all. He hoped that if he were mad at all, he wouldn't bring it up.

After a moment, Zuko finally said, "It's settled then. We leave at dawn."


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or Pokemon.**

**--------------------------**

**Chapter 6**

Shagar awoke with the sun in her eyes. During the night she'd shifted her position to where her head was no longer under the desks. Now she was lying in a patch of sun on the floor.

Every inch of her told her to stay in bed. She was still exhausted from their journey and the hectic school day the day before, but she found herself getting ready anyway. She rolled up the mat and shoved it in the corner with the others. Since she was in a strange mood that morning too, she decided to wear a black bandana, which she normally never did. After that, she went through the curtain into Mrs. Talbert's room.

The rest of that day was almost an exact repeat of the last, except today they went to music instead of PE. The music teacher Mrs. Hughey, was a Wigglytuff that had been trying to teach them to play flutelike instruments for the past couple of months. There hadn't been much progress, especially since everyone seemed to enjoy honking them in peoples' ears more than playing music on them.

Aside from that, the rest of the day slid by like any other. By the time recess finally rolled around, Shagar was just about sick of school. It was almost too much to take; it was just the same thing every day. But she forced herself to like it. It wasn't like she had anywhere else to go. This school was the only thing that stood between her and the war.

At recess, it was scorching hot out, and no one wanted to do anything. Shagar just lied down under one of the few trees behind the school, confining herself to a small patch of shade. She closed her eyes, hoping to take a short nap. It was actually rather peaceful in the spot she'd chosen to rest.

But that nap thing wasn't going to happen. As soon as she closed her eyes, she heard a horn sound back at the school, signaling that everyone needed to come back. Normally, it was only blown at the end of recess, but it was way too early. She figured the teachers probably wanted them to come in because it was too hot out. Shagar dragged herself back toward the school, letting out a groan of protest.

The horn sounded again, which wasn't too unusual since it was usually blown more than once to make sure everyone heard it. This time it was louder, however; almost urgent sounding.

Shagar picked up her pace a little. As she got closer she noticed all the fifth grade teachers as well as the principal, Mrs. Boice, were gathered in the field. The principal, a Ninetails, was discussing something with Mrs. Galvan, her voice urgent. Shagar managed to catch a few words from their hushed conversation: '_from the watchtower'._

The end of her tail twitched in confusion as she tried to figure out what had been sighted. Swarm of locusts? Unlikely. The teachers would've hurried them inside instead of allowing them to gather out here. Bad weather was also out. The sky was clear, and the sun blazed down as always. Dust storm? It would've been seen by everyone and there would've been at least some sort of breeze. Suddenly, she was out of guesses, and her only option was to sit and wait to see what happened.

Shagar felt Freezachu come up next to her. She half expected her to say something, but she stayed silent, looking up at the teachers quizzically.

People near the back of the crowd, especially the girls, were chatting away as usual as if they hadn't noticed they were standing outside for no reason. Some of the boys were playing games with cards they'd bought in town. A few of the smarter people looked up to see what was going on, but a lot of them went back to their games.

Suddenly, Shagar felt Mrs. Talbert push her way in front of her, which she didn't like, but didn't complain about it. The Arcanine stood in front of her. The busy mane and tail of the creature blocked her entire view. Shuffling through the crowd, Shagar found another spot, this time near Mrs. Galvan. The Umbreon has ceased talking with Mrs. Boice, her gaze fixed on something in the distance.

Shagar scanned the horizon, her blue gaze settling on a cloud of red dust on the horizon. A Pidgey from Mrs. Talbert's class fluttered over and settled herself beside her.

"What's that?" she muttered, mystified. "I'd like to fly over and see what it is, but there's no telling what might happen if I do."

"Afraid you might get shot down?" Shagar asked.

The Pidgey narrowed her eyes, obviously annoyed. She thought about it for a while, but eventually nodded. "No one has any idea what's kicking up all that dust. It could be some sort of weird animal. A shirshu maybe."

"There'd have to be more than one," Shagar replied, "to kick up all that dust."

The Pidgey nodded again just as Mrs. Galvan rose and took a step forward. Many of the kids in the crowd flinched or took a step back as they looked toward the horizon.

A group of fuzzy blobs had emerged from the cloud. Something thudded on the ground as the shapes approached. As they came closer, Shagar was able to make out more details. The thudding was the sound of the figures' massive feet thundering upon the ground.

Several of the kids behind her scurried further back into the crowd, but Shagar stayed put. The Pidgey that had been seated next to her took to the air, flying a few yards into the air to get a view before descending behind her.

Shagar turned back to face her.  
The Pidgey's eyes were wide with horror. "I know what they are!" she exclaimed. The bird dared another glance at the cloud as if to confirm her suspicions. "They're rhinos!"


End file.
